The efficacy of vitamins for reducing or preventing depression symptoms in healthy individuals: natural remedy or placebo?

Over-the-counter vitamins have become increasingly popular as a natural remedy for reducing or preventing depression symptoms and enhancing the emotional well-being of healthy individuals in the general population. This placebo-controlled, single-blind trial evaluated the effect of vitamins on depre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of behavioral medicine 2008-04, Vol.31 (2), p.157-167
Main Authors: America, Alison, Milling, Leonard S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Antidepressants
Biological and medical sciences
Carbohydrates
College students
Depression
Depression - diagnosis
Depression - prevention & control
Depression - psychology
Dietary minerals
Dietary Supplements
Efficacy
Expectations
Family Medicine
Fatty acids
Female
General Practice
Health Psychology
Health Status
Herbalism
Homocysteine
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mental depression
Naturopathy
Neuropharmacology
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Placebo Effect
Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer
Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease)
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopharmacology
Severity of Illness Index
Surveys and Questionnaires
Vitamin B
Vitamin B Complex - therapeutic use
Vitamins
Vitamins - therapeutic use
Young adults
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Description
Summary:Over-the-counter vitamins have become increasingly popular as a natural remedy for reducing or preventing depression symptoms and enhancing the emotional well-being of healthy individuals in the general population. This placebo-controlled, single-blind trial evaluated the effect of vitamins on depression symptoms experienced by a nonclinical sample of participants. One hundred and fourteen healthy young adults were randomly assigned to multivitamin, B-complex vitamin, placebo vitamin, or no-treatment control conditions. At the end of a 6-week regimen, participants administered vitamins reported significant reductions in depression symptoms as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory compared to those who received no treatment. There was no difference between the multivitamin, the B-vitamin, and the placebo. The effect of each of the vitamin regimens on depression symptoms was partially mediated by response expectancies. The results do not support the efficacy of vitamins as a natural remedy for reducing or preventing depression symptoms among healthy people in the general population.
ISSN:0160-7715
1573-3521
DOI:10.1007/s10865-007-9134-3